We, the parish of Sacred Heart, are committed to enriching the Spirituality of the parish family, the Christian community, and all brothers and sisters created in God's divine image and likeness. We are called by the Holy Spirit, under the leadership of our Bishop and Pastor, to assist others through the development and promotion of various ministries. We pray for Divine guidance that we may serve others with truth, courage, forethought, and compassion.
THE SEASON OF LENT 2023
The parish offers parishioners various ways to grow spiritually. In order to enter the Season of Lent, I invite parishioners to attend daily Mass. To assist with both fasting and almsgiving we will participate in Operation Rice Bowl of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Operation Rice Bowl offers an opportunity to fast and pray during Lent and to give the money saved to the work of CRS. CRS assists those most in need throughout our world.
LENTEN SCHEDULE
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Each Friday Stations will be held at 5:30 pm
Fish Fry after Stations in Gabriel Hall (if possible bring a meatless dish to share)
Friday, March 24, 2023 at 5:30 pm
Friday, March 31, 2023 at 5:30 pm
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
CHRISM MASS
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Cathedral of St. John Berchmans at 6:00 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2023
9 am Adoration
10 am Mass
HOLY THURSDAY
April 06, 2023 at 5:30 pm
GOOD FRIDAY
April 07, 2023
Stations of the Cross at 2:00 pm and Service at 3:00 pm—Collection for Pontifical Good Friday for the Holy Land
Start Divine Mercy Chaplet
HOLY SATURDAY
April 08, 2023 at 7:45 pm—Second Collection for Diocesan Church Vocations
EASTER SUNDAY
April 09, 2023 at 10:30 am—Second Collection for Diocesan Church Vocations
REMINDER
If you do not have an Easter Flower Envelope, please get one from the Narfhex and turn it in with your name and the names of those you would like to remember with an Easter Lily Plant. If you could do this right away I would appreciate it. Thank you, Libby!
New Horizons-The Man Born Blind by: Fr. Mark Watson, Pastor FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT by: Deacon Clary S. Nash Today stories lead up to the end of Lent, Martha sends for Jesus, she says, “Master, the one you love is sick.” So the first word in John’s description of what is to take place is Jesus loved her. And that’s the keynote of understanding this whole gospel. It is love. Jesus loves her, Jesus loves Lazarus, and he loves Mary, and he loves his disciples, and he loves you, and that’s what he does. He has come to bring the love of God and to help us understand that he loves us just the way we are. He wants us to find fulness of life that can only come in a love relationship. Jesus finally comes and Martha rushes out to meet him, appears to be a little annoyed because she felt that if he had come, he would have healed her brother and her brother would be alive. And she says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” She’s kind of hoping that he will do something very special. Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” And then he says to her, “Do you believe this?” And she says, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” He means that he himself can give eternal life to all who come to him, but they must believe. And if they open their hearts and they believe in him, they already have eternal life, because he is the Son of God, and God represents life, not death. There is nothing about death in God. He lives and His Son comes to tell us that he lives, and he continues to live after he dies, and we will live. What Jesus is revealing to Martha, is that all are destined for eternal life, that death is only a transition. It’s a movement. It is moving from one place to another, absent like a job relocation or going on vacation. Death is not the end because Jesus says, “I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life.” He mourns at the tomb. But why? If Lazarus is with God and he’s safe, there’s no need for mourning.” But he knows differently. He knows that when he passes from us and that we can no longer reach him in our daily life, we go on a distant journey into a darkness we do not understand, we mourn, because we have lost something. But our mourning is in faith, and we believe that he has gone to a God who loves him. Jesus mourns for the fact that this world is a rough and cruel place. And it isn’t God who has made it that way, but we ourselves. People’s lives are full of loneliness, full of difficulty. There are so many fears and, even in this day when we seem to have material things, our hearts hunger and sometimes fear and sometimes get lost in the malaise that comes with just being a human being. We were created to love. That’s what Jesus says and that’s what the gospel says. God loves us, God cares, God is concerned, so much that He allows His Son to take on the pain of us, because only through the Incarnation could the pain of our daily existence be experienced by God Himself. We were created for life. We must put our faith in love with each other. And for those who love and for those who have faith, we have no trouble understanding the words of Jesus, “I am the light of the world. I am the truth, and the truth will make you free. And I am the life and you must know that you might pass through many darknesses, not necessarily death, but the darkness of on the edges of despair, of disappointment, of feeling all alone, or rejected, everything that it means to be a human being, as well as rejoicing and praising God for the great things in life. When those times come, you must know that he is with you and you must turn to him in faith. Believe in him? John wants us to understand. In Lazarus, it’s the sign and symbol of the truth of every human being, that we are not created just for a time, to die and to disappear into nothingness, but we are created to be loved by God, to love God and to love each other and, most of all, to love this world. that we might finally bring this world to what it was created for: a world of forgiveness, a world of caring, a world not without its problems, but a world based on the knowledge from the gift of faith, that God the creator is real, loves us today and forever. We just need the faith of Martha.
First we want to thank everyone who supports St. Vincent de Paul! Without your donations, SVdP would not exist. The inflation has hit the less fortunate hard. We cannot afford to buy eggs for the pantry. One case of 15 dozen eggs cost $60 now! We try to keep bath soap and toilet tissue throughout the year. In January your SVdP fed 53 families, which included 51 children, 57 adults, 13 seniors, and 6 homeless. Cost of food was $292.20 for 3,981 pounds. The Food Bank has been so helpful. Finding available housing is becoming extremely difficult. Some, who are forced to rent, their rent has gone up $150. Even small apartments are costing over $650.00 a month. Renters are forced out of their apartments if they can't pay. Some have lived in those apartments for 10 or more years. Calls for help have gone up substantially. We are extremely in need of children’s clothes of all sizes. Thank you for helping through the Poor Box.
Bea Cernigliaro is seriously planning on passing the baton after 24 years. She is planning on resigning at the end of 2023. That leaves 10 months of hands-on training. Four holidays have to be organized for easy distributions: Lenten bags, Easter baskets, Thanksgiving food baskets, and Angel Tree for the children’s Christmas gifts. The new person or persons will get an idea of how this is handled. New ideas are great and helpful. You will have a wonderful volunteer staff. Could not have been successful without our muscle men and the wonderful ladies who handle the paperwork. At the moment, we need another person on the clothing side. The men need one more person, also. Being able to help load and unload heavy food cases is necessary. Please call Bea if you feel God is calling your name to help others, 631-5278.
JEAN WOODS
HONORED AT ANNUAL CATHOLIC BLACK HISTORY MASS AT SACRED HEART
FEBRUARY 19, 2023
Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Shreveport held it’s annual Catholic Black History Celebration Mass on Sunday, February 19th at 10:30am. Jean Woods of Sacred Heart was this year’s honoree and oh my did everyone see this coming! If you know Jean, you'll know why she was an excellent choice to be honored- and if you haven't, let me tell you why. As a convert to the Catholic faith, Jean Woods DOES NOT take a passive approach to living out the Catholic Faith. As Deacon Clary said this past Sunday, "A lot of people have ideas for the Church and wants others to do them, Jean Woods, on the other hand, has many ideas and executes all of them herself."
Congratulations Jean, Sacred Heart is very proud to have you as a parishioner. God Bless all your hard work!
Sacred Heart Family,
Sacred Heart Grief Support Group is Helping families recover from the loss of a love one. I also see a need for a Family Support Group to aid our families with a variety of needs, to be able to reach out in a safe and confidential way with other couples. I would like to start a Sacred Heart Family Support Group. The aim is to have family couples that are open minded and nonjudgmental that can listen to each other and share personal reflections.
The aim is to:
· Increase the strength and resilience of families
· Support better family relationships so to reach their full potential
· Helps families make acquaintances with other families and resources in the community
· Provides individualized, family-driven support that respects family culture, values, and preferences
Benefits
· Increases families' level of knowledge about family relationships
· Connects parents with similar experiences
· Reduces the sense of stress and isolation
· Provides opportunities for families to support each other
Please let me know if you would be interested in starting this ministry at Sacred Heart. Just email me individually at deaconnash@sacredheartshreveport.org
Deacon Clary Nash
You can now donate/tithe/contribute online towards the needs of our church.
Please visit our online-giving page at the top bar of this page.
After Wed. Morning Mass and
30 minutes before Weekend Masses)
Location:
4736 Lyba Street
Shreveport, LA 71109-0467
Postal Mail:
4736 Lyba Street
Shreveport, LA 71109-0467
Rectory: 318-635-2121
Church: 318-635-2121
Fax: 318-635-5226
Gabriel Hall: 318-635-5446